Title

Different Shapes of Ice

Problem Scenario

You would want to know this because if you want an ice cold drink you want an ice cube that lasts longer to keep your drink cold. Or if you are dealing with [[#|refrigeration]].

Broad Question

How Fast Does Ice Melt?

Specific Question

Does the shape of an ice cube affect its melting rate?

Hypothesis

The ice cube with the largest surface area will melt at a faster rate.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: shape of the ice cube
Dependent Variable: melting rate
Variables That Need To Be Controlled: liquid, temperature

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

no vocabulary

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General Plan

Four different shapes will be frozen.A temperature prob will record the temperature of the ice. They will then be melted in a beaker of room temperature water. The melting rate will be recorded. Three more shapes will repeat the same procedure.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The beaker of room temperature water could be to hot or cold. This could be fixed if I make sure the water is room temperature. The room temperature could be to hot or cold. This could be fixed if I make sure the room is at the right temperature. The ice cubes might not be fully frozen. This could be fixed if I put the ice [[#|cube tray]] back in the freezer.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

The water could spill causing a safety hazard for people surrounding the puddle. One of the flasks could fall of the counter and shatter.

Experimental Design

What is your experimental unit?

one ice cube

Number Of Trials:

5 trials, each trial being a different shape

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

i will test each trial 3 times

Number of Observations:

15

When data will be collected

My [[#|data]] will be collected by the end of February

Where will data be collected?:

In Mr Littlefields B-9 Science Room

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Ice Cube Tray's	4	My House	na
Flask	4	Mr. Littlefield	na

Detailed Procedure

1. Gather all materials listed in resources and budget table.
2. Fill the first ice cube tray with 25ml of water.
3. Put the ice cube tray in the freezer overnight.
4. Take the ice cube out of the tray
5. Put the ice in a flask of 200ml of room temperature water
6. Observe the melting rate and record the time of when the ice cube has fully melted
7. Repeat steps 2-9 three more times

Diagram

Photo List

freezer, melting, aftermath

Time Line

By February 8 all of the materials will be gathered and the lab will be set up. By February 14, the experimental part of the project will be done, and so will the observing.The analyzing will be done by the end of February. The discussion will be dne by March 10. The poster will be done by March 22.

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

See data table

Graphs

Photos

Results
After 5 trials I had my results. The Ice Cube shape averaged 394 seconds. The Apple shape averaged out to 415 seconds. The Berry shape averaged out to 351 seconds. The Mouth shape averaged out to 236 seconds.

Conclusion

Does the shape of an ice cube affect its melting rate? The shape of an ice cube does affect its melting rate. This is shown when my results varied from 236-415 seconds. Each trial showed the different ice cubes with different melting rates.

Discussion

The data recorded showed that different shapes of ice melt at different rates. The larger the surface area the faster the shape melted, this was shown when ice in the shape of a mouth melted first. The melting rate (dependent variable) depended on the ice cube (independent variable). The experiments question was answered. How fast does an ice cube melt? The [[#|answer]] was, depending on its surface area. So a cube will melt faster then a sphere. My experiment ran smoothly with no errors. The data collected could be used to help refrigeration. Ice company's could use shapes of ice with small surface area's so that the ice wouldn't melt as fast. The experiment could be improved with more trials. With more trials the data would have been more precise. If the expirement were done again, maybe try using different liquids to see if the liquid affects the melting rate. This expirement could be used in science in other projects. It could be used because the larger the area of the surface the faster the ice cube melts.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

My project benefits to the community and science because it can further deepen ice technology. Big freezer company's might want to use ice cubes with smaller surface areas so that the ice cubes stay solid longer.

Background Research

Ice is a solid form of a liquid that is cooled under 0 degrees Celsius. As soon as you take an ice cube out of the freezer, it begins to absorb surrounding energy (heat), causing the frozen water molecules to begin vibrating. As the molecules vibrate they bump into each other. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms cause the water molecules to break away from each other. The ice cube then goes from a solid form to a liquid. Ice cubes melt at different rates based on their size and whether their in a liquid or not.

Larger ice cubes will take more time to melt than smaller ones because it takes more energy to get all of the molecules to begin vibrating. Ice cubes with more surface area will also melt faster because more of the ice is exposed to the environment. Ice cubes in liquid melt faster than ice cubes in air because liquid has a larger concentration of molecules than air does.

John Gorre was believed to be the creator of the ice cube when he invented the refrigerator.

Ice cubes are produced domestically by filling an ice cube tray with water and placing it in a freezer

References

Howard, Mason. "Ice Cubes Melting Process." EHow. Demand Media, 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

Horwitz, Brittney. "Which Materials Keep Ice Cubes From Melting for the Longest Time?"EHow. Demand Media, 16 Aug. 2010. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

"Ice Cube." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Abstract

Does the shape of an ice cube affect its melting rate? The answer was yes. Four different ice cube trays that were filled with ten milliliters of water in each of them. The ice cubes were placed in flasks of 200ml of water. Each ice cube was timed on its melting rate. The results were written down showing that the shape of an ice cube does affect its melting rate.